After 95 years, Mass is celebrated in the Holy Cross Armenian Church, in Lake Van
After 95 years, the Eucharist was celebrated once again in the Holy Cross Armenian Church on Akdamar Island in Lake Van, in eastern Turkey near the border with Armenia. Archbishop Aram Atesyan, vicar of the Armenian patriarch of Turkey, described the event, which occurred yesterday, as “a miracle”. However, in the Armenian Diaspora, many voices were critical.
“It is miracle to be able to celebrate the Eucharist here today,” the bishop said in his sermon. Speaking in Armenian, then Turkish, he thanked Turkish authorities who restored the building and authorised the celebration. “This will be a golden page in history,” he said at the end of the service.
Built more than a thousand years ago, Holy Cross Armenian Church is a beautiful specimen of Armenian architecture, but for Armenians and the international community it symbolises the Armenian “genocide”, a term rejected by Turkey.
In 2005, Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in January 2007, called for its reopening so as “to restore our spent souls”....
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“It is miracle to be able to celebrate the Eucharist here today,” the bishop said in his sermon. Speaking in Armenian, then Turkish, he thanked Turkish authorities who restored the building and authorised the celebration. “This will be a golden page in history,” he said at the end of the service.
Built more than a thousand years ago, Holy Cross Armenian Church is a beautiful specimen of Armenian architecture, but for Armenians and the international community it symbolises the Armenian “genocide”, a term rejected by Turkey.
In 2005, Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in January 2007, called for its reopening so as “to restore our spent souls”....